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Editor: My hands are trembling as I try to write this letter. I just watched a news story about my government's treatment of the families of our brave young men and women who died in the defense of this land. I cried.

The people we have sent to Washington to lead us -members of Congress, the president - are not Republicans or Democrats. They are spoiled children playing with the lives of their constituents while reveling in the game of politics.

But now their game, like many children's games, has turned ugly. They are now playing "mock the troops."

Only the vociferous indignation of millions of Americans has made them back-pedal on this one.

What about the rest of the people they are supposed to be representing? There are still millions of Americans - fathers and mothers, children, the elderly - who are victims of their cruel games. We are not their constituents. We are their hostages.

About this game they are playing? Stop it. Stop it, now.

WILLIAM GETHING

SCRANTON

Hat trick

Editor: Many years ago in my profligate youth, companies called my rotary-dial phone to complain I had not paid my bill, trying to intimidate me with various and sundry threats. I calmly elucidated my hat strategy.

I placed my bills in a hat, pulled one out, and wrote a check. When I ran out of money, I stopped writing checks. If they kept calling, I wouldn't even put their bill in the hat next month.

I was honored to hear that House Republicans were emulating my hat strategy. After shutting down the government, they placed the names of all federal agencies and departments in a hat and pulled one out to fund. First was the World War II Memorial. They even showed up to escort the wheelchair-using veterans through the barriers. Then they pulled out the national parks, then the NIH to fund cancer treatment for children.

Although my selections were completely random, I'm sure theirs were based on merit. It was just coincidence that their selections had appeared in the news, tugging at the patriotic and empathetic heartstrings of the American people.

I was even more honored to hear that House Republicans had adopted my hat strategy for defaulting. They wanted President Obama to pay the interest on the debt, and then pull names of creditors from the hat. He was allowed to peek at the name, and throwing it back if so inclined. (I admit I often peeked myself.) He begins paying bills, and when the government runs out of money, he stops writing checks.

Today I was disappointed Republicans had abandoned my hat strategy for the "What do I do now?" strategy.

All right, I confess. My hat strategy anecdote is a joke. But so are Lou Barletta, Tom Marino and the majority of House Republicans.

JOE HANNON

SCRANTON

Singular focus

Editor: This latest crisis created by the Republicans in Congress is just more proof that their hatred for this president far outweighs any love that they might have for their country.

House Speaker John Boehner says that the shutdown happened because the president will not negotiate. With regard to the Affordable Care Act, there is nothing to negotiate. It was passed by Congress, signed into law by the president and upheld by the conservative Supreme Court.

Republicans also made Obamacare one of the central issues in the 2012 presidential campaign. The president, as we all know, won re-election quite easily.

So why do they continue on this foolish path? They know that this latest tactic, just like the 42 votes to repeal Obamacare, is going nowhere. Since they could not defeat the president at the ballot box, their plan now is to cause as much turmoil and obstruction for his presidency as they can, thereby keeping the economy from growing like it should.

Secondly, once the Supreme Court upheld the law they knew there was nothing they could do to keep the law from taking effect. So their plan of attack became to try to scare people with their lies about the law, hoping to keep people from signing up for it. They hoped this would lead to its downfall.

The Republicans' greatest fear is that Obamacare will indeed be a success and that this will define the legacy of Barrack Hussein Obama, America's first black president - the man they hate.

BEN EGLESIA

DICKSON CITY

Loyal to wallet

Editor: Those who castigate the members of the House for not representing those who put them in office don't seem to realize that they are. It's obvious that they serve the very wealthy and large corporations. Nothing they have done has seriously impacted their supporters.

And until they are threatened by the loss of the huge amounts of cash lavished on their individual election campaigns the extreme group of GOP House members will continue to behave just as they have.

TOM MIELCZAREK

MADISONVILLE

Big impact

Editor: Joseph F. Graf ("Reid tone-deaf," Your Opinion, Oct. 3) says the government shutdown is just an inconvenience. I don't know if he is misinformed or he is tone-deaf.

With the shutdown comes major and, for some, desperate problems:

Women, Infants and Children, which provides formula and food for pregnant women and young children. It also provides special formula for infants who cannot tolerate regular formula. It has stopped.

The National Institutes of Health, which provides therapies through the clinical research programs. It is the last and only hope for parents with children in the program. Stopped.

Without help from government, food banks will be severely impacted.

Thousands of government workers already hit by sequestration will be without paychecks.

If you believe that the Republican-controlled House, with the tea party pulling the strings, is doing this because it is the right thing to do for the country, then you are as wacky as they are.

LINDA LANCASTER

HAWLEY

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